Israel Reels Over Rifts With Allies
Clashes With Egypt and Turkey, Looming Palestine State Vote Put It in Dire Spot
By JOSHUA MITNICK
Reuters
Egyptian army officers arrested a suspect Saturday by the Israeli embassy in Cairo, where violent clashes prompted the evacuation of diplomats.
TEL AVIV—Israeli leaders are struggling to navigate a Middle East in which its strategic pillar of the last few decades—a three-way axis with U.S.-allied Muslim powers—has crumbled, a day after rescuing its embassy staff from a mob in Cairo.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to reopen its Egyptian embassy after the staff retreated in the face of violent demonstrations Saturday morning. But the troubles in a second diplomatic mission in a week following a fallout in relations with Turkey underscores Israel's precarious position as ties with its two key regional allies are recast.
Against the backdrop of tense relations with the White House, the shift heightens the stakes for Israel as it braces for a diplomatic onslaught at the United Nations next week. That is when Palestinians plan to mount a statehood bid, raising the possibility of an outbreak of mass protests on Israel's borders.
Some Israeli experts suggested that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, who is set to visit Cairo on Monday, and Egypt's military rulers could overcome their historic rivalry and cooperate to on further isolating Israel.
Israel's embassy was overrun overnight Saturday by hundreds of Egyptian demonstrators, tarnishing a symbol of the two nations 32-year-old peace. According to Israeli media reports, only White House intervention with Cairo triggered a commando-rescue operation that averted a lynching of six security guards.
The Cairo demonstration came on the heels of a decision by Mr. Erdogan last week to downgrade ties, halt military commercial relations and consider a stepped up military presence in the East Mediterranean. Those actions came in response to Israel's refusal to apologize for its killing of Turkish activists on a ship that challenged Israel's Gaza blockade.
"This should be very disturbing to us…there is a question about our place in the Middle East,'' said Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel's Shin Bet Intelligence Service, in an interview with Israel Radio. "The Egypt that was the bedrock on which we founded our strategy has disappeared.''
Careful not to insult Cairo by airing official worries in public, Mr. Netanyahu praised the interim military rulers for the rescue operation. But after months of repeated strikes on Israeli targets from Egypt—a gas pipeline, the border, and the embassy—some commentators raised concerns that a power vacuum left by the fall of President Hosni Mubarak is being filled by a street sentiment that attaches less value to the 1979 Egypt-Israeli peace treaty.
No less disturbing to Israel has been the recent deterioration of ties with Turkey, which expelled Israeli diplomats this week after enjoying warm military and commercial ties since the 1990s.
Some Israeli cabinet members and experts advocated apologizing for the Mavi Marmara killings, but Mr. Netanyahu went along with hardliners including Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman who say Mr. Erdogan had made the strategic choice to clash with Israel and denounce its Gaza blockade to boost its stature in the Muslim world.
Having warned months ago of a diplomatic "tsunami'' headed toward Israel with the Palestinian's U.N. bid and the Arab Spring, Defense Minister Ehud Barak publicly urged Israel's government in a statement on Sunday to reconsider its regional strategy amid "this triangle of Turkey, Egypt, the negotiations with the Palestinians, and of the intimacy with the U.S., which has been weakened.''
Last week, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates was quoted by Bloomberg News calling Mr. Netanyahu an "ungrateful'' ally who hasn't done enough to advance the peace process despite U.S. diplomatic and military support.
The regional crisis reignited a debate in Israel over whether a peace push with the Palestinians would ease Israel's problems. But the prevailing opinion in the U.S. government seems to view Israel as more vulnerable and unable to influence the region.
"The main effect, of what used to be called the Arab Spring is to introduce a much higher degree of uncertainty in how Israel looks at the region,'' said Dore Gold, a former ambassador to the United Nations under Mr. Netanyahu, in an interview. "Can anyone guarantee to Israel that most of the regimes surrounding it will be there in five years time?''
On Monday, Mr. Erdogan begins a regional tour with a series of meetings in Cairo. There, Mr. Erdogan is scheduled to meet with Egypt's High Military Council president, Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, and Prime Minister Essam Abdel Aziz Sharaf. He is also due to address a meeting of foreign ministers from the Arab League and meet leaders of the Tahrir Square protest movement. During the visit, he is also due to sign a series of bilateral agreements that will include energy and other economic accords, as well as the formation of a joint High Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
Experts in all three countries say strong coordination between Turkey and Egypt against Israel is unlikely. Egypt sees itself as a leader of the Arab world, and Mr. Erdogan's outreach—particularly his expressed desire to visit neighboring Gaza before any senior Egyptian official—could be seen as a provocation.
An official at Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that even as Egypt seeks closer economic and military ties it will be unlikely to take its cues from Turkey on international relations. Alon Liel, former Israeli diplomat said, however, that Turkish military and economic aid could be welcomed in Cairo, giving it considerable prestige and influence in influencing Egypt's political makeover.—Matt Bradley in Cairo andMarc Champion in Istanbulcontributed to this article
Clashes With Egypt and Turkey, Looming Palestine State Vote Put It in Dire Spot
By JOSHUA MITNICK
ReutersEgyptian army officers arrested a suspect Saturday by the Israeli embassy in Cairo, where violent clashes prompted the evacuation of diplomats.
TEL AVIV—Israeli leaders are struggling to navigate a Middle East in which its strategic pillar of the last few decades—a three-way axis with U.S.-allied Muslim powers—has crumbled, a day after rescuing its embassy staff from a mob in Cairo.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to reopen its Egyptian embassy after the staff retreated in the face of violent demonstrations Saturday morning. But the troubles in a second diplomatic mission in a week following a fallout in relations with Turkey underscores Israel's precarious position as ties with its two key regional allies are recast.
Against the backdrop of tense relations with the White House, the shift heightens the stakes for Israel as it braces for a diplomatic onslaught at the United Nations next week. That is when Palestinians plan to mount a statehood bid, raising the possibility of an outbreak of mass protests on Israel's borders.
Some Israeli experts suggested that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, who is set to visit Cairo on Monday, and Egypt's military rulers could overcome their historic rivalry and cooperate to on further isolating Israel.
Israel's embassy was overrun overnight Saturday by hundreds of Egyptian demonstrators, tarnishing a symbol of the two nations 32-year-old peace. According to Israeli media reports, only White House intervention with Cairo triggered a commando-rescue operation that averted a lynching of six security guards.
The Cairo demonstration came on the heels of a decision by Mr. Erdogan last week to downgrade ties, halt military commercial relations and consider a stepped up military presence in the East Mediterranean. Those actions came in response to Israel's refusal to apologize for its killing of Turkish activists on a ship that challenged Israel's Gaza blockade.
"This should be very disturbing to us…there is a question about our place in the Middle East,'' said Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel's Shin Bet Intelligence Service, in an interview with Israel Radio. "The Egypt that was the bedrock on which we founded our strategy has disappeared.''
Careful not to insult Cairo by airing official worries in public, Mr. Netanyahu praised the interim military rulers for the rescue operation. But after months of repeated strikes on Israeli targets from Egypt—a gas pipeline, the border, and the embassy—some commentators raised concerns that a power vacuum left by the fall of President Hosni Mubarak is being filled by a street sentiment that attaches less value to the 1979 Egypt-Israeli peace treaty.
No less disturbing to Israel has been the recent deterioration of ties with Turkey, which expelled Israeli diplomats this week after enjoying warm military and commercial ties since the 1990s.
Some Israeli cabinet members and experts advocated apologizing for the Mavi Marmara killings, but Mr. Netanyahu went along with hardliners including Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman who say Mr. Erdogan had made the strategic choice to clash with Israel and denounce its Gaza blockade to boost its stature in the Muslim world.
Having warned months ago of a diplomatic "tsunami'' headed toward Israel with the Palestinian's U.N. bid and the Arab Spring, Defense Minister Ehud Barak publicly urged Israel's government in a statement on Sunday to reconsider its regional strategy amid "this triangle of Turkey, Egypt, the negotiations with the Palestinians, and of the intimacy with the U.S., which has been weakened.''
Last week, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates was quoted by Bloomberg News calling Mr. Netanyahu an "ungrateful'' ally who hasn't done enough to advance the peace process despite U.S. diplomatic and military support.
The regional crisis reignited a debate in Israel over whether a peace push with the Palestinians would ease Israel's problems. But the prevailing opinion in the U.S. government seems to view Israel as more vulnerable and unable to influence the region.
"The main effect, of what used to be called the Arab Spring is to introduce a much higher degree of uncertainty in how Israel looks at the region,'' said Dore Gold, a former ambassador to the United Nations under Mr. Netanyahu, in an interview. "Can anyone guarantee to Israel that most of the regimes surrounding it will be there in five years time?''
On Monday, Mr. Erdogan begins a regional tour with a series of meetings in Cairo. There, Mr. Erdogan is scheduled to meet with Egypt's High Military Council president, Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, and Prime Minister Essam Abdel Aziz Sharaf. He is also due to address a meeting of foreign ministers from the Arab League and meet leaders of the Tahrir Square protest movement. During the visit, he is also due to sign a series of bilateral agreements that will include energy and other economic accords, as well as the formation of a joint High Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
Experts in all three countries say strong coordination between Turkey and Egypt against Israel is unlikely. Egypt sees itself as a leader of the Arab world, and Mr. Erdogan's outreach—particularly his expressed desire to visit neighboring Gaza before any senior Egyptian official—could be seen as a provocation.
An official at Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that even as Egypt seeks closer economic and military ties it will be unlikely to take its cues from Turkey on international relations. Alon Liel, former Israeli diplomat said, however, that Turkish military and economic aid could be welcomed in Cairo, giving it considerable prestige and influence in influencing Egypt's political makeover.—Matt Bradley in Cairo andMarc Champion in Istanbulcontributed to this article
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